• by Tanya Gazdik , January 6, 2011

Pantene has selected a TV actress to appear in ads for its Pro-V Nature Fusion products starting next month.

Shay Mitchell, known for her role as Emily Fields on ABC Family's "Pretty Little Liars," will appear in a new print campaign developed by Grey Worldwide. She joins a long list of Pantene spokespeople, including Stacy London, Kelly LeBrock, Kelly Ripa, Maria Menounos and Padma Lakshmi.

Mitchell, 23, is promoting the relationship on her Facebook page and is also tweeting about it on Twitter.

Pantene selected Mitchell because of her energetic persona and beautiful, healthy hair, says Sarah Montante, Pantene assistant brand manager at Procter & Gamble. The brand is trying to reach younger consumers via Mitchell, who has a younger fan base, Montante tells Marketing Daily. London, who is currently appearing in the brand's TV spots, is 42.

At this time there is no plan to use Mitchell in TV spots. Her relationship with the brand is limited to print, advertorials and PR. London will continue to appear in TV ads and advertorials through 2011.

"As an iconic beauty brand, Pantene needs to stay current with trends in fashion and hair, and present the 'faces' of modern beauty to our consumers," Montante says. "As a rising star on a hit series, Shay represents a fresh take on beautiful hair and is relevant to teen consumers, who are influencing more and more of pop culture trends."

Teens set the trends for all of us, and eventually inspire their parents and even grandparents' looks, she says. "So it's important that Pantene stay on the cutting edge of everything cool with teens," Montante says.

The ads will feature Mitchell with three different hairstyles including one where she is modeling side braids. At the advertising shoot, stylists prepped Mitchell's hair using the Pantene Pro-V Nature Fusion collection and styled it with the Pantene Pro-V Medium-Thick Hair Solutions styling products.